


its in the blood

by OneBadMammaJamma



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Mostly friendship, joke about relationship i guess, squint if u want love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:41:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22095802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneBadMammaJamma/pseuds/OneBadMammaJamma
Summary: Jaskier is snatched up and used as an offering for a hybrid beast. As a result, he's turned into a monster and Geralt does his best to bring his friend back.
Kudos: 63





	its in the blood

Jaskier plopped down on a log, yawning with great exaggeration, and then leaned back and started lightly strumming his lute. 

“I’m hungry.” He said after some time of silence. 

“Hm.” Geralt said.

“What are we going to eat?”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking.”

“Think faster, please. It’s been ages since we’ve eaten.”

“We ate last night.” Geralt stood up with a sigh, giving Roach a good pat on the nose. “I’ll go out and try to find something again. Maybe I’ll find a lost rabbit.” He said before walking away. 

Jaskier didn’t say anything, he just began to mess with his lute again. 

Suddenly, a twig snapped.

“Back so soon?” Jaskier joked. No answer. Then he realized the sound was behind him. Geralt walked away somewhere in front of him. He sat up and before he could do anything else, rough hands covered his mouth and tried to drag him away. He started kicking and smacking the ground, trying to fight it, but a cloth was shoved over his mouth. He breathed in, on instinct, and immediately passed out. 

Geralt came back to an empty camp and drag marks in the dirt near where Jaskier used to be. 

“Fuck.” 

-

When Jaskier had woken up, he was in a standing position. His arms were tied tightly beside his head and he moaned in protest, trying to move his hands. 

“He’s awaken.” Some voice said. 

A crowd of “yays!” 

“Oh.” Jaskier cleared his throat. He was on some kind of stage in the middle of the forest, and an entire crowd of onlookers were sitting on various logs in front of the stage, watching him. Only one other person stood on the stage beside him, and they were wearing some kind of ritualistic robes and a leshen head for a helmet. He also held a torch.   
Not one of his weirdest audiences, but it was up there. 

“Hello guys.” Jaskier smiled nervously. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

The audience was quiet. Someone coughed. 

“I want to see some body parts!” A random yelled.

“Body parts? What kind of show is this?” Jaskier began pulling at his hands again. 

“A wonderful one. You’ll be our most special guest of the evening! Our sacrifice of the month!” The leshen freak said. 

Jaskier felt sick. “Sacrifice?” 

“Yep.”

“T-To what?”

“To the beast of the forest. Every month we pick someone for him to feast on, and if he likes it, he leaves us alone for a while. If he doesn’t, then, well, he gets to pick one of us. But that’s yet to have happened. We hope you don’t disappoint.” The leshen pat his cheek. 

“W-What? No, you can’t sacrifice me!” Jaskier shook his head furiously. “Why would you kill the best poet and bard in all the country, no, world?”

“What’s your name?”

“Julian Alfred Pankratz, better yet, Jaskier-”

“Nope, never heard of you.” 

“WHAT?!” Jaskier was baffled. “H-How- Come on, surely you’ve at least heard of my song, ‘Toss a Coin to Your-’”

“Oh brother, somebody shut this FUCKING GUY UP!” Someone in the audience screeched, throwing a glass cup at the stage. It shattered by Jaskier’s feet and the poor bard jumped in shock. 

“He’s right, the time for talking is over. Time for the sacrifice. The beast needs to eat.” 

“No, no, no, no!” Jaskier pleaded. “Come on, I’m too skinny, I barely have any meat on me! He’ll be disappointed for sure.” The leshen freak put out the fire on the torch and began to walk toward the end of the stage, grabbing something and walking back. “Friend, can I call you friend? Listen, I think you’re very cool and you must have some real experience with monsters because-”

A cloth was suddenly shoved into his mouth and tied around his head so that he wouldn’t spit it out. He tried to yell through it but barely anything came out. Sweat rapidly began to bead around his brow and he pulled desperately, harshly, to pull his hands free as he heard the loud roar of a beast. 

“He’s here!” Leshen freak yelled. 

A gigantic beast, something equivalent to a cross between werewolf and some kind of goat, came strutting through the audience.

“Debby, looking good. Fathra, did you gain weight? Rogga, give me some sugar!” He joked at the terrified audience, reaching the edge of the stage and doing a front flip onto it. 

‘How extra.’ Jaskier thought with terror. He trembled as the beast moved closer to him. 

“Is this my meal?” The beast asked. 

“Yes.” Leshen freak nodded. 

The beast leaned in and Jaskier turned his face away, squeezing his eyes shut and praying to Geralt and even some Gods that he would be saved. 

The beast’s wet nose was pressed against his neck and he could feel it taking deep sniffs of him. He sobbed in fear. 

“Jaskier the poet!” The beast gasped. “Yay! You did it, you really outdid yourself this month! As a reward, no sacrifices for two months.”

The leshen freak started cheering. The audience did too.

“OKAY NOW SHUT UP! LET ME EAT!” The beast growled very loudly. Jaskier flinched. 

His wrists were literally bleeding because of how hard he’d been pulling at them for the last few minutes. 

“Should I bite that pretty neck of yours first?” The beast said with a smile. He held a claw up to his victim’s jugular and smiled when he felt how violently the man was shaking. 

As the beast dragged his claw along Jaskier’s jaw, neck, and then down to his shoulder, Jaskier was making noises of fear. It was nothing but muffled groans and whimpers but the beast clearly took pleasure in it anyway. It were as if the beast were feeling him up in certain places just to see the reaction. 

Then, out of nowhere, the beast opened its jaws wide and clamped down on Jaskier’s shoulder. He bit down deep, and the sound of bones cracking radiated throughout the clearing. Blood quickly bubbled out the wound and dripped down Jaskier’s shirt, making it feel all sticky mixed with the sweat. 

The bard was screaming as loud as the gag would allow. 

The audience was screaming in glee. 

The beast released his shoulder and decided to bite down on his upper arm, the bones there beginning to crunch as well. Jaskier thrashed violently as the beast pulled away, ripping a chunk of meat off in the process. 

The beast moved lower down, biting and clamping down on his victims’ right side. CRUNCH! Jaskier’s entire body was shaking and twitching violently, it was screaming where his voice could not, and he could feel bile coming up. 

He knew he was going to choke on it, the gag wouldn’t let any of it come out. 

Better than this, he supposed. 

The sound of metal and something wet hitting the ground distracted his agony for a second. A mountain of blood sprayed onto him and the bile finally came out. It seeped through his gag and he gasped for air, beginning to panic even more. He was whining and sobbing so loud, it was so pathetic. Did he wet himself? Honestly, his entire body was wet, he didn’t know what was what. He wished for death, honestly. 

“The beast is gone!” The leshen freak yelled but it sounded so distant. His consciousness was waning. 

“Get the fuck out of here before I kill you, too.” A voice growled. 

‘Geralt.’

He was gone after that. 

-

“He’s bleeding everywhere, how good of a doctor are you if you can’t stop it?” Geralt. 

“Do you see his wounds? You’re lucky he’s even alive! Hold him still so I can actually stop it-” Unfamiliar. 

“He’s waking up, dammit!” Geralt again.

“H-Help m-me-” Jaskier forced out. His entire body felt like it was on fire and he only saw white. 

“Hush, we’re trying to help you right now.” Geralt tried to calm him down. He felt warm, soothing hands begin to rub him in places he forgot the names of and then he was gone again. 

-

Geralt was standing at the entrance to the room Jaskier was lying in. There were silver cuffs on his wrists and a silver collar, all three things attached to the bed to keep him there should he wake up. 

His wounds were miraculously healed but it wasn’t because of any magical healer. 

“When he wakes up, he’s not going to be himself.” The doctor, Samuel, suddenly spoke. He was standing beside Geralt. 

“What kind of monster was that?” Geralt asked. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“It’s a rare crossbreed. Sorcerers used to mix monsters together to use as attack dogs and this was one of the results.” Samuel sighed. “A horrible beast, sadistic and cruel. They will always eat their victims alive and when they do, they make sure to leave nothing behind. That’s why cases like this, like your friend, are so rare. Before they can turn, they’re usually gone. And if by some miracle they do turn, they’re nothing like their previous selves.”

“Just get to the fucking point, there has to be a way to save him, right?” Geralt hissed.

“There is.” 

Geralt glanced side to side, irritated at how much this fucker was dragging this on. “Am I going to be told?”

“You will but it’s a fairly long and hard process, almost no one-” 

“Damn it, just tell me! I don’t give a damn about how long or hard it will be!” 

“First of all, make sure he never takes a bite of flesh. Human or not, he will be gone. Forever. Second, you need to make him swallow some of his own blood. Once he ingests it, it will begin the regressing process. It’s very slow and painful, and you need to make sure he doesn’t bite or hurt you because remember, any bite of flesh or blood ruins the process. Third, don’t believe anything he says. It’s not him. The process will be done and he’ll be himself again early morning tomorrow.”

“Fucking finally.” Geralt tried to soothe his anger. “A night isn’t so bad.” He tried to be optimistic. 

“You’d think that but it won’t feel so short. Watching someone you care about suffer like this will feel like a lifetime. Especially a lover.” 

Geralt didn’t say anything to that. He just shot the man a glare. “I need to get some blood.” 

“His blood right now is too contaminated. It won’t do any good.” Samuel said.

“Where the fuck am I supposed to get his non-contaminated blood, then?” 

“There’s s-” 

A low, vicious growling interrupted them. 

“The blood, Samuel.” Geralt said quickly, reaching for his sword instinctively but then stopping himself before he pulled it completely out. 

Jaskier suddenly shot up, the silver collar breaking instantly but the cuffs remaining. He hissed and growled angrily, reaching out to them. His eyes were bloodshot red and his skin was as white as snow. 

“No, fuck this. I value my life!” Samuel yelled turning and running out of the room. “There’s more chains in the desks if you need it!” 

“Samu- FUCK!” Geralt hissed. “Dickless ingrate!” He looked to his friend and he felt sad, genuine sadness, and thought about things he could have done differently to prevent this. Without blood, his friend was dead. 

“Geralt.” Jaskier suddenly said in a growly, disgusting voice. He sounded like a ghoul. “Geralt, let me go.” 

“I can’t do that.” 

“IT HURTS!” 

Geralt glanced at the cuffs, which were burning the bard’s wrists. He could see the smoke. In about a few minutes, his wrists will probably be burned off. His hands will fall off and he’ll be free. Then his hands will heal up in about, let’s say five minutes, and he’ll be able to attack more viciously. The witcher had to act quickly. Think of something. 

“I’m not going to kill you. No matter what.” Geralt said. “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck you!” Jaskier spat. 

“I deserve that.” Geralt then realized something. He was still covered in his blood, back from when he first saved him. That blood should still be fresh! He checked his forearms, where it was most prominent, and cautiously walked toward his friend. 

Too late, the cuffs burned through his hands and he was free. He immediately rushed forward and pounced, throwing Geralt on the ground with such an unexpected force that he was stunned for a second. Jaskier screeched and then jumped on him. He hissed before opening his mouth and aiming to bite his throat but Geralt shoved his forearm in his mouth, pushing him back with all his strength. 

The monster bit down, unable to penetrate armor, and only managing to scrape the dirt and blood off. He immediately began coughing and jumped back, clutching his throat. 

Geralt silently watched, unsure if he should move or not. He stayed where he was on the ground. 

“You ruined me.” Jaskier cried. His voice was still a little raspy but not as growly. 

Geralt continued to not say anything. 

“I’ll kill you.” Jaskier taunted. “I’m going to kill you for doing this to me.” He jumped up and dashed toward Geralt again, who rolled out of the way. Geralt threw himself back up and pulled his silver sword out, holding it out as a warning. He couldn’t think of anything else to do. 

“Oh, please. You won’t kill me.”

“I won’t. But I can cut your legs off and leave you crippled for the rest of your life.” 

Jaskier just stared at him. “They could just h-”

Geralt took that bit of distraction as his opening and smashed the blunt end of the sword into the side of his head. The bard crumpled to the ground and he quickly grabbed silver chains from the drawers nearby. He rushed to wrap them around his friend before he woke back up. They weren’t burning him so that was a good sign. He then dragged the body to the end of the room, next to the bed, and leaned him against the wall. 

“Monster or not, you’re still an idiot.” Geralt said. The thought comforted him. Had to be another good sign. 

“My head, it hurts! Fuck, what did you do to it?” Jaskier suddenly groaned. 

“How are you feeling?”

“What? I’m chained up like an animal and my head hurts, what do you think?”

“Hm.” 

“Come on, untie me and let’s get out of here. You can fill me in on what happened.” 

‘Don’t believe anything he says. It’s not him.’ Dickless Mcgee’s words rang in his head. 

“I will in a bit.” 

“Why a bit? It’s rude to tie your friends up, Geralt. And these chains kinda hurt, what the heck are they?” 

The witcher said nothing. They must be burning him slightly, then. Fucking idiot, why would he tell him that? Now he knows it isn’t actually him. 

For the next few hours, Jaskier constantly switched between being nice and reasonable and yelling and cursing. The entire time, Geralt meditated. It distracted him. Jaskier was unable to break free of the chains, so he was a pathetic loser that just writhed around on the ground. 

The sun had seeped in through the window and Geralt stopped meditating, slowly standing up. His friend was asleep on the ground. 

“Samuel was right.” Geralt said to himself. It does suck to watch someone you care about suffer horribly. He’d never say this out loud, though.

"Geralt…" The bard suddenly whined. "Everything hurts." He cried. 

'That sounds even more like him.' 

"W-What-" Jaskier's eyes shot open and he noticed himself tied up, then looked to a bloody geralt, back to himself, back to his chains, back to geralt, and then turned to the side and threw up. 

"Come on, friend." Geralt reached out, patting his back in comfort. He began to remove the chains once the puking was done. 

"I-I don't want to know what happened."

"Okay." 

Samuel suddenly barged in with a tray of food. "Hello, is everything okay now?"

"I should kill you." Geralt said, looking to Samuel with an angry look on his face. 

“Why? Everything is good now, is it not?”

“What if it wasn’t? What if I never found blood, then what?” Geralt stood up. 

“Then he would have eaten you alive and I would have let the sun kill your friend. I’d be free to move on with my life.” Samuel shrugged as if it were no big deal. 

Geralt was about to pop this bitch in the mouth but Jaskier put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Let’s go.” He said. “I feel like I’m going to be sick again and all this talk about me eating you isn’t helping.” 

“Fine.” Geralt shoved his way past the doctor, smacking his tray out of his hand while he was at it. Jaskier was in tow, politely stepping over the spilled food.

The two left the building to find Roach patiently waiting for them. Geralt pat her head. It was a different one from last night. The old one was probably forgotten at their previous campsite. 

“Geralt.” Jaskier suddenly said. 

“What?”

“I’m still hungry.”


End file.
